o23 || mother
the pursuit of happiness
"Wait, Jaehyun," she held his hand as the car approached his house.
"Hmm?"
"I just… I feel ashamed facing your family," she bit her lips in worry.
"Eh? Why? Eomma had cooked a lot for you. Everyone's waiting for you," he said as he parked his car. He lifted his hand, signaling the family butler to not open the car door first.
"I don't know. I just… I don't know!" She pouted.
Jaehyun laughed before giving her pouty lips a quick peck.
"Do not worry. Do not feel guilty. Once you're inside, just be the usual pretty and happy Yerim, okay? I'm with you," he assured her.
"But still…"
Jaehyun smiled at her, "I know you're worried and all, and I can't stop you from feeling that way, but believe me when I said no one's blaming you and that everyone missed you. Okay?"
She meekly nodded and he tucked a few loose strands of her hair before opening the door. A butler opened Yerim's side and she stepped out, bowing her head at the elder guy.
"Let's go," Jaehyun smiled as he took her hand in his and led her into his house. A maid opened the door and Yerim's legs were immediately attacked by a hug.
"Yerim ma—imo! I missed you so much, much, much, much!"
Yerim looked down to see Jeno hugging her legs. She was relieved when she saw him being chipper and happy, the bruises on his face are healing well.
"I missed you a lot as well, Jeno-ya. How are you? Is it painful?" She asked as she kneeled down to examine his face before hugging him properly.
"It doesn't hurt. I just missed eom—imo! What's this?" Jeno asked as he pointed to Yerim's left arm that's wrapped in a cast and held on by a sling.
"This is Yerim imo’s armor to heal her arm. She got this after protecting you in the car crash. She had to wear this for a while," Jaehyun explained as he patted Jeno's head.
"Jeno! Don't hog Yerim by yourself, Halmae also wants to greet her!"
Jaehyun's mother appeared and smiled before hugging Yerim.
"Yerim, my dear! It's so good to see you. Come in, come in, I cooked you your favorite sundubu jjigae!"
"Imo..."
"Aish, this girl. You don't have to act this way. Come on," she put an arm around Yerim's shoulder and pulled her into the dining room.
"I want to sit next to Yerim eom—imo!" Jeno exclaimed as she took Yerim's free arm into the dining table.
"Jen! You said you want to sit next to Woo samchon!" Jungwoo pouted childishly.
"Uhm... I'll sit in the middle then!" The boy grinned and took his place between Jungwoo and Yerim.
Jaehyun shook his head and smiled at Yerim who was smiling awkwardly back at him.
"Eat up, Yerim," Mr. Jung said calmly and pushed the dolsot towards her.
Yerim smiled. Everything seems like it will be okay.
Yerim softly brushed Jeno's hair as the little boy hugged her waist. The two of them are sitting on the carpeted floor of the living room. Jaehyun watched them with loving eyes as he held onto Sungchan who's learning to stand up and was currently holding onto the couch for support.
"Eo—Imo?" Jeno said, tugging on Yerim’s blouse.
"Yes, honey?"
"Appa said you are hurt. Your hand hurts?" Jeno looked up and blinked his eyes innocently.
"Um… only a little. Because Jeno is okay and is here next to me, it didn't hurt that much."
"Can you take off this then?" He pointed at Yerim's cast.
"Later, not now. I have to wear it so my hand won't hurt in the future," Yerim explained patiently.
Jeno nodded and laid back down again.
"Look at Sungchanie, he's going to walk anytime soon now," Yerim mused.
"Sungchanie is cute," Jeno grinned.
"Appapapa!"
"That's right, I am your appa," Jaehyun said fondly as he patted Sungchan's bum. The baby plopped down and crawled towards his brother.
"Dadadada!"
"I am hyung, not dada," Jeno said softly, pouting at his brother.
"Soon. Sungchan will be able to say hyung soon. It’s just a little difficult for him to pronounce. Be patient, okay," Yerim nudged the kid and Jeno grinned sheepishly.
"Dadada da! Da!"
Jeno sighed before laying down again, already giving up on making his brother properly call him hyung. It’s going to take a long time before he can get called that.
"How about me then, Sungchanie? I… Mo! Imo!"
"Ma! Eomma! Mamamamamama!" Sungchan babbled happily as he crawled to Yerim's lap.
"E-eh? No, no. Imo!" She repeated again awkwardly as Sungchan clambered up her legs.
"Eommamamamama!" Sungchan giggled as he tried to reach for Yerim's hair.
Jaehyun bit back a smile. The baby had decided which person he considered as his mother figure already. Even Jeno constantly confuses himself by calling Yerim both eomma and imo.
"Oh, I can?" Jeno's eyes twinkled in excitement immediately.
"Of course! Um... why don't you go grab your coloring markers now?"
Jeno nodded enthusiastically and quickly bolted to fetch his markers.
"Are my children making you uncomfortable?" He asked softly.
Yerim quickly shook her head, "No, no. They're kids. That’s what they do."
Jaehyun sighed, "I tried so hard to be a good father for them. I think I have done my part as best as I could, but still I couldn't fill a void that is meant for a mother. My sons... they looked up to you. A lot. After the accident... sometimes Jeno had nightmares. He kept calling ‘eomma, eomma’ and it confused me at first. He's okay now, he doesn't have any nightmares anymore. It’s just that, we spent so much time together and you filled that role for him so well he began to think of you as their mother."
"Is it okay, Jaehyun?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Them calling me their mother. You know me, Jaehyun. I'm not exactly mother material. I don't have a loving family, I constantly try to run away from my problems, I put them in danger and I'm an invitation for bad luck. I'm beginning to think... that your family is better off without me."
"What?! Rim—"
"I have my markers!" Jeno came running happily, cutting off the conversation.
"Eh? Oh, okay. Um… draw however you want then," Yerim took off her sling and carefully laid her arm on her lap so Jeno could draw on it.
Jaehyun sighed, "Just... don't press too hard on the cast, okay, Jen?"
"Alright!"
"And Yerim, we'll continue our discussion later," Jaehyun said sternly.
Yerim stared at her colorful cast fondly.
"Uhm... This is you! The prettiest! And then this is me. This is Sungchanie. And this one is appa, the tallest! This is Jeno's family!"
"Eh, I am your family?"
"Of course! I like Yerim eom—I mean, imo so much! Eo—imo, can't you just live with us all the time? Forever? I really like you!"
She didn't think they would be this attached to her. It's not going to be good for them. She's basically a walking bad luck charm.
Yerim turned around to see Jungwoo approaching. He took a seat next to her as they stared ahead at the family garden.
"Don't say it like that, Woo."
"Why? My nephews had been going around calling you their mother. I just hoped my hyung would stop making moves and quickly gather his balls to propose to you," the younger guy snickered playfully.
"You're pushing it. We haven't dated for that long. And I don't even think I deserve to marry your brother," Yerim scoffed.
"Yah. Look, noona. You can be dating him for a month, a week, a day, or even jump straight to marriage without dating and everyone would approve," Jungwoo rolled his eyes.
"I…"
"You what? Noona, you don't know how perfect you are for my brother and his kids. I don't think I could ever bless any other girl to be hyung's wife and the mother of his kids. Anyways, hyung is coming. I'll get going then," Jungwoo winked before leaving.
Yerim sighed as the guy left. As if on cue, his older brother came soon after.
"What are you talking about with Woo? He looked smug," Jaehyun commented as he took a seat next to her.
"Nothing. He was just teasing, you know him. Are the kids asleep?" She asked quickly.
"Yeah, they're napping upstairs. Oh, your cast is colorful now. Can I see what Jeno drew?" He asked cheerfully as he scooted closer.
He examined the cast closely and caressed Jeno's drawing of the four of them together.
"Hmm?"
"I asked him... Why did he call you eomma."
Yerim tensed on her seat.
"H-he said that?" She asked in disbelief.
Jaehyun nodded.
"I tried explaining, you must be married to me to be his mother. And then he asked me If I could marry you so you could be his mother. I… don't know how to answer that," Jaehyun mused.
"I'm sorry…"
"Eh? Why are you sorry? If anything, I should be the one apologizing since my kids are probably burdening you."
"I've said it Jaehyun. I don't think I can be a great mother figure for them."
"You don't have to be great. We love you the way you are," he smiled reassuringly.
"I must've saved a nation in my past life. Why am I so lucky to have you and your family, Jaehyun?" Yerim mused.
"Well, then I must have saved the whole world to be this lucky to find someone like you, Rim. I want you to know that one day in the future I want to marry you. Build a family with you. But I know you're not ready, so I'm going to go with your pace. Just stay here by my side, okay?"
"What am I going to do with my life if I didn't meet you, huh?"
He chuckled as he kissed her temple, "I asked myself that too, Rim."
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